Things Meant to Be
by Malakia
Summary: It has been years since Skyfall and Q is happy in his position at MI6 and watching over agents, especially 007. Unfortunately life really likes to get in the way and Q's family comes in for a surprise visit. All was going well until a terrorists started targeting Q and his family. Can things get any crazier? NOT A BONDLOCK STORY
1. Sometimes Life likes to Throw Wrenches

The frantic typing of a keyboard was drowned out by the noise of people were hurriedly walking about the room. Q, Quartermaster of Q-Branch at MI6, ignored them in favor of what he was looking at on the large screen in front of him. There was a floor plan with a variety of heat signatures, most of them in a cluster in a large room in the northwest corner of the building, and the rest trying to reach that location. Most of the bodies were clumped together on one side of the room save for one dot that was on the other side and the object of concern for Q.

There was the rapid sound of gunfire coming through the speaker sitting on his desk, causing the young man to hold his breath. "Where is that back up, Q?" a gruff voice asked with a touch of annoyance.

Q let out a slow breath. "ETA in 5 minutes, 007," he responded in his usual clipped manner. "I am trying to find an alternative escape route for you in the meantime."

"If it involves me jumping out the window and breaking every bone in my body, I am sending the hospital bill to you."

"Heaven forbid..." Q muttered as he heard Bond fire some shots of his own. While keeping an eye on the agent, Q brought up a 3D model of the building. "007, there is a fireplace to your right. Do you see it?"

"Yes," Bond grunted as a new hail of bullets came at him.

"The chimney system is all connected and big enough for a body of your size-"

"Oh, I feel so _special _when you put it that way."

"- to fit in without getting stuck, assuming that there are no obstructions. If you reach the floor you can escape with any interruptions."

"Lovely," Bond muttered. "I guess a trap door or something with the possibility of me _not _getting stuck is too much to ask for?"

"Now, now, 007, beggars can't be choosers," Q reprimanded with the left corner of his mouth lifting upward.

"Then you come out here and try to do what you're asking," Bond bit back with a hint of teasing in his voice. "That back up better be there when I get outside."

"Better hurry then, or you'll miss them."

Bond huffed but remained silent as he fired more rounds. Though Q couldn't see, he watched as the agent's heat signature moved rapidly across the room. The sound of gunfire increased, mixing with the agent's heavy breathing. The dot moved to the outline of the chimney and the quartermaster transcribed the infrared satellite images onto the 3D model to watch the shape of Bond fall down the flue of the chimney. As he listened to the cursing and rustling of fabric filtered through the speakers, there was a sudden beeping sound and Q switched over to the other communication device that was trying to contact him. Immediately, Agent Phillips, the head of Bond's withdrawal team, started talking. "Our ETA is 30 seconds from 007's location. What should we know?"

"Hold your position when you park," Q ordered. "Have your side door open, though."

"Understood."

Q then cut the communication back to 007 just as the older man grunted from the impact of hitting the bottom level. Q looked outside the edge of the building just as the dot for the retrieval van pulled up.

"007," he commanded. "Your exit is unimpeded. Retrieval van right outside."

"Roger," Bond panted.

Q watched the dot of the agent sprint forward to the only exit on the floor. The young man quickly brought up a feed from a nearby security camera, seeing the nondescript black van just as the side door opened.

The blond haired agent burst out of the building. From the grainy footage, Q could see a darkened strip along the left side of his face as the older man looked around before spotting the van and quickly rushing over.

There were blessedly no bullets that followed Bond as he dove into the car. Q watched as the door slid closed and the van peeled out of the narrow street.

Q quickly switched over communication links. "Report," he demanded.

"Agent Bond is alright," Agent Phillips responded. "He has a small knot on the back of his head where he says one of them tried to knock him out. We'll still be taking him to medical to be sure, Sir."

"Good, make your way to the nearest airport. The mission has been scrapped until further notice."

"Understood." There was a pause. "Agent Bond would like to know if it's possible to have a reward since he is returning all of his equipment."

"Tell him if he can keep it up for a year, then yes." With that he shut off the communication and began typing in commands for airplane tickets and to clean up whatever mess 007 had left, so it was like he was never in the country.

"Well done, Quartermaster," a male voice said behind him.

Finishing what he was typing, Q turned to see M - Mallory- standing at the edge of his work area with Eve. "Thank you, Sir," Q said in a professional tone. "Agent Bond should be back in a day or two."

"Hmmm, terrible thing about this mess," M said, coming to stand next to him.

Q nodded his head. "We had no way of knowing our informant would turn on us. And on the plus side 007 didn't blow anything up."

"That is always good news," M agreed with the right side of his mouth lifting upward. "I expect to see a report on the whole ordeal by the end of the day."

"Of course," Q nodded, watching as M turned his back to head to his office.

The young man sighed as he turned toward his computer. It wasn't that he couldn't do the report, it was just he had other demands on top of that. _'Too much to do and not enough time,' _he thought humourlessly.

"Good job," a female voice said. Q turned his head to see Eve still standing near him, an easy smile on her face. "Not many could handle the pressure," she added.

"I wouldn't be a good Quartermaster if I cracked, now would I?" Q responded with a smile.

Eve chuckled a little as she approached him. "It would be good for you to take a little holiday soon, though."

"Q-Branch would fall apart," Q protested. The two of them have had this conversation before and though Q-Branch had moved to their permanent headquarters more than a year and a half ago, Q was still reluctant to leave it for a moment. The one time he had everything had gone well except around the time when he was to return, when someone had introduced a virus that nearly crashed the system. The person was harshly reprimanded by Q (and maybe a small virus of the Quartermaster's own design was implanted in their computer for a while). But Eve being one of his closest friends, Q understood her concern.

"It'll be good for you," Eve countered, placing a hand on her hip as the other held a leather organizer close to her chest. She was now frowning. "Being tied to this desk isn't healthy."

"My health is _fine,_" Q said with a little exasperation. "And aren't you the pot calling the kettle black? When was the last time you took a holiday?" He raised an eyebrow at the end of his question.

"_I _don't have a stressful job," she replied, then, maturely, stuck her tongue out at him.

Q laughed a little at that before saying, "If you're done, Moneypenny, I need to get back to work." He turned towards his computer again but paused when his mobile, sitting next to his laptop, went off, vibrating. Quickly he grabbed it, checking the name on the screen before saying, "Excuse me. I have to take this." He went around Eve and headed for his office.

On the way there he unlocked the screen. "Guten Tag, wie geht es dir?(1)" he answered in a friendly tone and with an affectionate smile on his face.

He laughed after the person finished talking. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied in English. "I'm at work right now though so I can't -" He stopped walking abruptly when he was cut off.

"You're _what_?" he asked, voice rising. "How-" He sighed deeply trying to keep his panic in check. "Are you at the flat now?" he asked evenly. "...No, it's fine. You can stay there. I'll get off work early today." A small smile came across his face, listening to the other person. "I love you too. Tell Sicily I love her as well."

He hung up the phone and then let out a soft curse. _'Of all the things...' _he thought, quickly heading to his office.

Entering through the thick oak door, he went to his desk to grab his work bags and coat. In his head he began going over the things he had to do before heading out, and the protocols for the situation he was in.

There was a knock on the door. He called for the person to come in; Eve entered. "Q, I need-" she stopped short, seeing what the young man was doing. "Something the matter?"

"No," Q said calmly, though inside he was jittery and nervous. He slipped on his jacket and shouldered one of his bags before grabbing his computer bag and making his to get his laptop from his work station. "I need you to inform M, though, that I won't be working my regular hours."

The two of them stepped out of his office and Q locked the door. "Alright," Eve said, watching him. "But what is this all about?"

Q turned to face the woman, looking her dead in the eyes. He took a deep breath and then said, "My sister and niece are in town."

* * *

**Thoughts on the story thus far?**

**SORRY IF MY GERMAN IS BAD! I AM RUSTY! 1: Good day, how are you?**

**Thank you to Bardlover1 who edited this chapter (and hopefully the entire story! lol!)! You're amazing!**


	2. Announcement

**Dear Readers,**

**I have an announcement pertaining to all of my stories. As most of you have seen I have not updated any stories in quite a while this is unfortunately due to the fact that, like most writers, I have been stuck in a writing rut. Now don't get this confused with 'writer's block'- that is not what I am going through; I know what direction I want my stories to go but when I actually sit down to write it my brain just completely shuts down. I have tried to write stuff but it becomes more and more difficult each time I try with all my stories- new and current ones. This has been going on since the middle of summer that is still going on currently- going on even longer for my Soul Eater stories. I don't know when it will end but the updates will come when it is over.**

**Thank you for understanding,**

**Malakia**


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